Amid fierce, bloody fighting in Ukraine, the US and China are training for new ways to get wounded troops away from the frontline

• Intense fighting and high casualties in Ukraine have raised new challenges for military medicine.
• This summer, the US and Chinese militaries both trained on new ways to evacuate wounded troops.
• In a long-range war in the Pacific, medevac operations will be more difficult to conduct.

For most of American military history, medical evacuation meant a long, painful ride in a horse-drawn wagon or a rudimentary vehicle. Since the Korean War, US soldiers have become accustomed to rapid "medevac" by purpose-built medical vehicles, ships, or aircraft.